then in our Secular Affairs there be frequent occasions for Meditation there must needs be frequent opportunities for Prayer too at lest for Mental Devotion And how easie a matter is it for any man at the business of his Vocation to lift up his heart with some such Ejaculations as these O Lord dispose the way of thy Servant towards the attainment of everlasting salvation O Lord direct sanctifie and govern both my heart and body in the ways of thy laws and in the works of thy commandments Prevent me O Lord in all my doings with thy most gracious favour and further me with thy continual help I humbly beseech thee O Father mercifully to look upon my infirmities O Lord grant me such strength and protection as may support me in all dangers and carry me through all temptations O Lord create and make in me a new and contrite heart O Lord keep me both outwardly in my body and inwardly in my soul O Lord give unto me the increase of Faith Hope and Charity O God mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule my heart We have a great number of such useful and holy Petitions in our Liturgy which if people would take but a little pains to fix in their Memories their hearts would be always ready ready for God ready with Sweet Incense to offer up to him so ready provided that honest Tradesmen in their very Shops painful Husbandmen at the Plough and the poorest Servants at the Mill would not be at a loss for some Godly Prayers to send to the Throne of Grace at every turn to be united to the intercessions of the Lord Jesus for us all III. But the best way to strengthen and increase in us a spirit of Devotion is constantly to attend the Publick Assemblies and to bear our parts in them at the House of God For this reason God loveth the Gates of Sion more than all the Dwellings or Private Houses of Jacob because at the Sanctuary the Prayers of his Saints are most fervent Thither we go to sing aloud unto God our strength to make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. There we meet together to offer up all our praises with one Heart and with one Lip There our Joynt Devotion conglomerates in its right Center There every one helpeth to inflame his own Zeal and his Brethrens also There spark mixeth with spark and all serves to set fire to the Sacrifice This therefore is the chief thing I would recommend to your Christian care and practice to attend with all possible diligence the publick and solemn service of God What a shame is it that the ways of Sion should mourn for want of comers to the Temple That the fire and the wood should be in a readiness and the Lambs be missing Men little think of those severe times when the Primitive Christians were wont rather than fail to rise up at Midnight and to steal and creep away into Holes and Caves to Pray and sing Praises together How joyful were all Pious Hearts in those peaceable times following when they saw Christian Churches erected and the Doors of them open so that they might without fear or danger enter in to worship God in the Beauty of Holiness What Multitudes thronged in to offer violence to the Kingdom of God in this sense and as Tertullian speaks to Beleaguer Heaven with a great Army And with Alacrity and Zeal did they send up their joynt Prayers when as St. Jerom tells us their Amen was like the noise of Thunder And how can we reflect on those happy Ages without lamenting the great Degeneracy of this when it is so hard a matter to perswade some people to repair though it be but once a day to the solemnities of God's Worship For God's-sake and your own Souls-sake let me at last perswade you What is Priest and Parish but one large Family and why should we not meet once aday especially I wish it might be oftner to pray unto God our Father to be Merciful and Gracious and provident for us all And where can we meet so properly so decently so conveniently as in our common Fathers House who hath called us all unto Hope and unto one Business Are our Families so little that we cannot spare so much as one out of an House to be Advocate and Intercessor for the rest Is the distance from the Church so great that you should count it more tedious then a Sabbaths Days journey Are our Sins so few and inconsiderable that there is no need of our Prayers for Pardon Is our business so urgent that we cannot spare a few minutes for the Honour of God and for the good of our Souls Have we lost no time that is necessary for us to redeem Our own safety and preservation and the Blessing of God upon all our Labours and the prosperity of the whole Kingdom are these such trifling things that we should not think it worth our while to step over our Thresholds to meet together at Prayer for them For God's sake let us in time lay to heart the things which thus manifestly belong to our Peace If nothing else can make us serious and thoughtful a Death-Bed will and then it may be too late because we may not be serious to good purpose Whether we shall be then true Penitents or truly Devout is a thing uncertain For it depends altogether upon the Grace of God and Men may Sin their time of Grace away Our safest course is to provide for Eternity betimes and not to harden our hearts but to hear the voice of God and to answer it with an Eccho of Prayers and Praises while it is yet called to Day And as many as walk according to this rule Peace be on them and Mercy and upon the whole Israel of God Amen Forms of PRAYER which may be used at Home every Morning and Evening daily MORNING PRAYERS O Lord our Heavenly Father Almighty and Everlasting God who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day Defend us in the same with thy mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no Sin neither run into any kind of Danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to do always that which is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. O Almighty Lord and Everlasting God vouchsafe we beseech thee to direct sanctify and govern both our Hearts and Bodies in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy mighty Protection both here and ever we may be preserved in Body and Soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy Holy Name and finally by thy Mercy may obtain Everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. O Almighty and most Merciful
God of thy bountiful goodness keep us we beseech thee from all things that may hurt us that we being ready both in Body and Soul may chearfully accomplish those things that thou wouldst have done through Jesus Christ our Lord. ALmighty and Everlasting God give us the increase of Faith Hope and Charity and that we may receive that which thou dost promise make us to love that which thou dost command through Jesus Christ our Lord. GRant to us Lord we beseech thee the Spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful that we who cannot do any thing that is good without thee may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will through Christ our Lord. LOrd of all Power and Might who art the Author and giver of all good things graft in our Hearts the Love of thy Name increase in us true Religion nourish us with all goodness and of thy great mercy keep us in the same through Jesus Christ our Lord. ALmighty God who hast given thine only Son to be unto us 〈◊〉 a Sacrifice for Sin and also an Ensample of Godly Life give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable Benefit and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy Life through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. GRant O Lord we beseech thee that the course of this World may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness through Jesus Christ our Lord. ALmighty and Everlasting God who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the Sins of all them that are Penitent Create and make in us new and contrite Hearts that we worthily lamenting our Sins and acknowledging our Wretchedness may obtain of thee the God of all Mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. WE humbly beseech thee O Father mercifully to look upon our infirmities and for the glory of thy name turn from us all those Evils that we most righteously have deserved and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living to thy Honour and Glory through our only Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ our Lord. O God who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers that by reason of the frailty of our Nature we cannot always stand upright grant unto us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name c. EVENING PRAYERS LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great Mercy defend us from all Perils and Dangers of this Night for the love of thy only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ ALmighty and Everlasting God mercifully look upon our infirmities and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy Righthand to help and defend us through Jesus Christ our Lord. ALmighty God who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our Souls that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the Body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the Soul through Jesus Christ our Lord. O Lord we beseech thee mercifully hear our Prayers and spare all those who confess their Sins unto thee that they whose Consciences by Sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. GRant we beseech thee Almighty God that we who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ALmighty and Everlasting God who dost govern all things in Heaven and Earth mercifully hear the supplications of thy people and grant us thy peace all the days of our Life through Christ our Lord. O Lord who hast taught us that all our doings without Charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of Charity the very bond of Peace and of all virtues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake O Lord God most Holy O Lord most Mighty O Holy and most merciful Saviour deliver us not into the bitter pains of Eternal Death Thou knowest Lord the secrets of our Hearts shut not thy merciful Ears to our Prayers but spare us Lord most holy O God most mighty O holy and merciful Saviour thou most worthy Judge Eternal suffer us not at our last hour for any pains of Death to fall from thee O God whose blessed Son was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil and make us the Sons of God and Heirs of Eternal Life grant us we beseech thee that having this hope we may purifie our selves even as he is pure that when he shall appear again with power and great Glory we may be made like unto him in his Eternal and Glorious Kingdom where with thee O Father and thee O Holy Ghost he liveth and reigneth ever one God World without end GRant O Lord that as we are Baptized into the Death of thy Blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ so by continual mortifying our corrupt affections we may be buried with him and that through the Grave and Gate of Death we may pass to our joyful Resurrection for his Merits who died and was buried and rose again for us thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. O Lord who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love Keep us we beseech thee under the protection of thy good Providence and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. O Lord we beseech thee let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church and because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness through Christ our Lord. UNto God's gracious mercy and protection we commit our selves The Lord bless us and keep us The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracions unto us The Lord lift up his Countenance upon us and give us peace both now and evermore Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy name c. Short PRAYERS fit to be learn'd by Heart and to be used by single Persons at any time LOrd have mercy upon me O God make clean my Heart within me And take not thy holy Spirit from me O Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World grant me thy Peace O Lord deal not with me after my Sins Neither reward me after mine iniquities Lord have mercy upon me and incline my Heart to keep thy Laws Grant that all Carnal affections may die in me and
that all things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow in me Grant that I may have power and strength to have Victory and to Triumph against the Devil the World and the Flesh Lord send me help from thy Holy place And evermore mightily defend me Let the Enemy have no advantage of me Nor let the Wicked approach to hurt me Be unto me O Lord a strong tower From the face of my Enemies O Saviour of the World who by thy Cross and precious Blood hast redeemed me save me and help me I humbly beseech thee O Lord. O Lord bless me and keep me O Lord lift up the light of thy Countenance upon me and give me peace Lord hold thou up my goings in thy Paths that my footsteps slip not Keep me as the apple of an Eye Hide me under the shadow of thy wings O cleanse me from my secret faults And keep thy Servant back from presumptuous Sins O remember not the Sins and offences of my Youth but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness O keep my Soul and deliver me Let me not be confounded for I have put my trust in thee Lord hide not thy face from me nor cast thy Servant away in displeasure Thou hast been my succour Leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation Into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of Truth O let not the Foot of Pride come against me and let not the hand of the Ungodly cast me down Turn thy face from my Sins and put out all my misdeeds Make me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit in me Comfort the Soul of thy Servant for unto thee O Lord do I lift up my Soul Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy name So teach me to number my days that I may apply my Heart unto Wisdom O let me have Understanding in the way of Godliness O that my ways were made so direct that I might keep thy Statutes I am a stranger upon Earth O hide not thy Commandments from me Open thou mine Eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law Lord look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that fear thy name I have gone astray like as a Sheep that is lost O seek thy Servant for I do not forget thy Commandments Do well O Lord unto those that are good and true of Heart As for me I am poor and in misery haste thee unto me O God Thou art my helper and my Redeemer O Lord make no long tarrying FINIS BOOKS Printed for and Sold by W. Crooke at the Green-Dragon without Temple-Bar 1693. 1. THe London Practice of Physick or the whole Practical Part of Physick contained in the Works of Dr. Tho. Willis faithfully made English and Printed together for the Publick good To which is bound his Plain and Easie Method for preserving from and Curing of the Plague and all other Contagious Diseases in 8o price bound 8s 2. The Christian Manual in three Parts 1. The Catechumen or an Account given by the Young Person of his Knowledge in Religion before his Admission to the Lords Supper as a Ground-work for his right understanding the Sacrament alone price 8d 2. And Introduction to a plain and safe way to the Communion Table with Prayers fitted for the Communicant Before At and After the receiving of the Lords Supper To which is added the Communicants Assistant Alone price 1s 3. The Primitive Institution shewing the great Benefit and Necessity of Chatechising to save the Souls of particular Persons and to heal the present Distempers of the Church in 12o Alone price bound 1 s. But the whole together 2 s. bound Entitled the Christians Manual all three by Dr. Addison Dean of Lichfield 3. The Historians Guide or Britain's Remembrancer being a Summary of all the Actions Battles c. Preferments Changes c. that happened in his Majesty's Kingdom from An. Dom. 1600. to 1690. shewing the Year Month and Day of the Month each was done in with an Alphabetical Table for the more easie finding out any thing in the Book in 12o Price bound 2 s. 4. Compendium Geographicum or a more plain and easie Introduction into all Geography than yet extant after the latest Discoveries and Alterations with two Alphabets 1. Of the Ancient and 2. Of the Modern Names of Places c. by P. C. Chamberlain of the Inner-Temple in 12o price bound 1 s. 5. Bucaniers of America or a true Account of the most Remarkable Assaults committed of late Years upon the Coasts of the West-Indies by the English and French with the unparallel'd Exploits of Sir H. Morgan Captain Cooke Captain Sharp and other English Men Also the great Cruelties of the French Bucaniers as of Lolonris Barti Portugues Rock Brasiliano c. in two Volumes both bound together 6. The Works of Homer viz. His Illiads and Oddises Translated out of Greek into English by Tho. Hobbs of Malmsbury Third Edition price bound 5 s. 7. Nine Treatises of Tho. Hobbs of Malmsbury bound in two Volumes in 8vo viz. 1. His Behemoth or Civil Wars of England 2. His Historical Narration of Heresie 3. His Answer to Bishop Bramhall in Defence of his Leviathan 4. His Seven Problems with an Apology to the King for his Writings These four were printed all at one time and called his Tracts price bound 5s 5. His Life in Latin writ part by himself and finished by Dr. B. 6. His Consideration on his own Religion Loyalty c. 7. His Art of Rhetorick in English 8. His Dialogue about the Common Law of England 9. His Ten Dialogues of Natural Phylosophy in English These Five last were printed at several times and sold single but for conveniency also bound in a Volume together and sold for 7 s. 6 d. 8. A Modern View of such parts of Europe that hath lately been and still are the Places of great Transactions viz. Italy with all its Principalities France with all its Provinces and Bishopricks Germany with the Dukedom of Lorrain and all the Electorates and Lordships of the Empire Spain with all its Dominions c. Wherein is shewed the Present State of all those Countries with curious Remarks of Antiquity interwoven in 8o price bound 2 s. 6 d. 9. The Case of the Resistance of the Supream Powers Stated and Resolved according to the Holy Scriptures by W. Sherlock D. D. Dean of St. Pauls and Master of the Temple the Second Edition in 8o price bound 2 s. 10. A Plain and Easie Method for preserving those that are well from the Infection of the Plague or any Contagious Distemper in City Country Camp Fleet c. and for Curing such as are infected with it by Dr. Tho. Willis never printed before 11. De Mirabilibus Pecci being the Wonders of the Devils
a true sense of God that People are so seldom at Prayer so hardly drawn to it so cold and careless and as it were unconcerned at it Right apprehensions of his Nature and Perfections do naturally cast such an influence upon the mind as would soon set the Powers and Faculties of the Soul on motion if we would dispose our selves so as to be capable of those Divine impressions and if we would duly consider what God is in himself And for that purpose we should look every day for him in the Scriptures and contemplate those Beauties and Glories under which he is represented to us in the Scriptures for there we have a true Revelation of his Essence and Attributes there he is represented as a Being so Great and Holy so Immense and Glorious so Omnipotent and Omniscient so Wise and Powerful so Communicative Kind and Beneficent and in every respect so Amiable and Adorable that were there no other considerations this alone touching the transcendent Excellence of his Nature would be a strong Argument to move us to worship him daily in the beauty of Holiness II. If besides this we consider God in his Works and as he stands related to us under the notion of a Being in whom we Live and Move and have our own Being and to whom we owe all that we have all that we are and all that we expect and hope to be we shall find what a just Right Title and Claim he hath to our daily Devotion These Works of God are of three sorts 1. First His Creating and Forming of us in the Womb. By Virtue hereof he doth justly challenge and require all possible services from us as his peculiar Right and Due and it was for this end that he fashioned the several Members of our Bodies and endued us with Rational Souls that we should Glorifie him with our Bodies and with our Spirits And what can be more reasonable then that he who gave us Hearts should have them That he who Formed our Lips should be praised and magnified with them That we should Worship and Fall down and Kneel before that infinite Being which is our Maker I will praise thee O Lord saith the Holy Psalmist for this reason because I am fearfully and wonderfully made Ps 139. 14. And would to God every Man would seriously consider before he goes out of the World for what end and purpose he came into it 'T will be a very dismal thing in that day when the terrors of Death are about him to have the Torments of an Evil Conscience too and to remember with anguish and bitterness how many blessed Opportunities of Devotion he hath despised how much time he has thrown away upon Wicked or upon vain Employments which God sent him into the World to spend upon offices of Religion and for how many years together he hath dishonoured the Majesty of Heaven with those Faculties which were made to serve and Glorifie and Adore him Think often I beseech you of the Day of your dissolntion when the Dust shall return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it Lay up betimes a good treasure against that day Put not off Devotion as a work proper only for a Death-bed God alone knoweth how you will be disposed at that time They have not cryed unto me with their heart when they howled upon their Bed saith God Hosea 7. 14. Your Hearts may deceive you at your last Hour though you think your selves sure of them now A Life of Piety and Devotion cannot possibly deceive you It must needs save you many Tears and Groans and bitter Thoughts of Heart but it cannot cost you any to consider that you have remember'd the Creator from the days of your Youth 2. Another work of God by Virtue whereof he hath a just right to our Prayers and Praises is his Providence Hereby God preserves that Being which he first gave us supports our Faculties and supplies us with all things that are necessary and suitable to our Natures The Measures of God's Providence are not all equal or alike but it differs in its proportion according as things differ in Degree and Dignity It is general over all things and shews it self by conserving and sustaining every part of the Universe It is particular and special over Men who are the principal part of the sublunary World and as they are Evil or Good so doth God adapt and suit his Providence to them according to their respective conditions He tenders his Grace and Mercy even to the Wicked is Patient and Long-suffering towards them that the sense of his Goodness may lead them to Repentance Upon their sincere Repentance he Pardons them but if instead of hearkning to his Calls they continue obstinate and go on still in their Wickedness then he doth Punish and Plague them oftentimes makes them visible Examples of his Wrath and Vengeance even in this World and sometimes too delivers them up to a Reprobate mind which is the heaviest and forest Plague of all To such as make a due use of his Grace he giveth more These he Nurtureth and Loves as a Father doth his Children and indeed with much more tenderness and compassion He taketh a most especial care of them the very Hairs of their Heads are all numbred they want no manner of thing that is really good for them and though he doth suffer them sometimes to be evil intreated and hardly used here yet he never lets them go out of his hands but compensates their sufferings abundantly and makes all things work together for their good nor can any thing in this World be able to separate them from his Love And doth not all this make it Necessary for us to be conversant daily at the Throne of Grace Is it God that upholdeth us and are not we concerned to beseech him not to withdraw his arm from under us Is it of his meer Compassion and Mercy that we are not utterly consumed and shall we not Praise and Adore him for it Is it at his hands that we must receive every good and perfect gift and shall we not repair to him in all our Necessities Is the Sword Famine and Pestilence every calamity we feel and every Judgment we are afraid of are all these sent from God and are we not deeply concerned to deprecate his Vengeance Is it God alone that can forgive Sin and is it not our duty to Beg it upon our Knees Or have we not Sins to ask his Pardon for Have we no other wants to be supplyed Are there no Mercies that we stand in need of Have we no Souls nor Bodies to be provided for Are there no Evils we desire to be delivered from Are there no Dangers we would avoid Is not God's Protection Day and Night necessary to be desired Is not his special Grace and Favour to be Implored Or have we not received any Favours and Blessings to return him our Thanks for These
employ them with such seriousness and united consideration as if we were going to die The custom of the Lord Jesus was to go up to some Mountain to pray thereby teaching all his followers to take their leave of the World for the due performance of their Devotion and during the time of it to retire as near as may be to Heaven and to have their minds there and there only To draw nigh unto God with our Lips and at the same time to let our thoughts rove and ramble and run away at a great distance from him is in effect to tell God that we are willing to pay him some outward Civility but care not for the business we come to him about and how then can we expect that God will attend to it 'T is necessary therefore to recollect our selves to fix our minds when we fall down on our Knees before him and in order thereunto we should consider how infinitely great that Being is to whom we make our Addresses and of what vast importance the thing is which we are transacting with him no less than the Eternal Welfare of our Soul and Body which we should pray for with the greater attention because we are not sure of another Opportunity to sollicite God about it At the Publick Service of the Church it is an excellent means to keep our thoughts at Home to give great heed to what is uttered by him that ministreth that is our Mouth and Intercessour not to lose a word but to keep an even pace with him in our Meditations and as he goes along to mind ponder and weigh the things spoken because the Soul lodgeth so near unto the Ear that if the door be open to let in the voice the Inhabitant within cannot but listen and be attentive VI. If we carefully observe this it will help to carry us on to that which is another Qualification of Prayer I mean Affection and Fervency When we apprehend and mind the matter of our Prayers and add to it an Earnestness and Vehemence of desire then is our Devotion truly said to be Fervent and Affectionate And this is one sense of that Phrase which we meet with thrice in the Epistles Praying with the Spirit 1 Cor. 14. 15. Supplication in the Spirit Ephes 6. 18. and Praying in the Holy Spirit Jude 20. In the strict sense it signifies Praying by the Extraordinary Assistance and Gift of the third Person in the Holy Trinity For in those first times of Christianity there was among many other Extraordinary Gifts a Miraculous Gift of Prayer wherewith some of the Church were Divinely and immediately inspired so that they were able on a sudden to conceive and utter Prayers which were apt and suitable to the Christian Religion the old Jewish Forms being then some of them useless and all of them imperfect because the condition of Church-affairs was now changed Upon this account there was then great need of an exttaordinary Gift of Prayer to supply the wants of the Christian Assemblies But this extraordinary Gift ceased in a little time stated Forms of Divine Service being provided for the Churches use Forms which had been Originally conceived by inspired Men and which were afterward preserved and used See Dr. Hammond an Jude the 20th and his Vindication of the Liturgy by those who had benefited so much by them There is no such thing as Praying by the Spirit in a strict sense or Praying by the extraordinary Gift of the Holy Ghost nor in truth is there any need of it now when there is a sufficiency of Useful Ancient and excellent Forms And yet we must in some sense pray in or by the Spirit or else our Prayers will do us no good We must pray with that Zeal which is kindled in the Heart by the ordinary operation of the Holy Spirit We must Pray with Spiritual Affection with ardency of Desire with Fervency of Spirit and with Hearts lifted up and Inflamed Our Prayers must not be Spiritless nor must we be Cold or Lukewarm at them God heareth not Prayers which are offered up by People that do not stir up their Affections nor chafe their Desires nor move their Minds into a Warmth but Pray carelesly as if they were indifferent whether God heard them or no. Such Prayers can never reach the Heavens they are lost by the way they drop down presently to the ground for want of Affection and Fervency which should have been their Wings In short when we call upon God we should imploy all the powers and faculties of our Souls and lay out our whole Man upon the business before us and because the consideration of God's Attributes gives life and vigour to the whole body of Religion we should possess our minds with the sense of those perfections and especially with the sense of his great Goodness For as the Notion of his Greatness Power Justice and Omnipresence is naturally apt to create in us attention of mind to what we say so the consideration of his Mercy and Benignity is enough to Charm our Affections In order therefore to Fervency in Prayer let us think of the wonderful kindness and goodness of God and carry the thoughts of it along with us throughout the whole tenor of our Devotion how good he is in his own Nature how Communicative and Beneficent to his poor Creatures how Gracious to Mankind how Merciful to Sinners how easie to be intreated upon our Repentance and how ready he is to pardon Iniquity Transgression and Sin 2. We should cast our selves down under an humble sense of our own Unworthiness and Vileness and with a thankful acknowledgment of the Happiness we have that Worms Dust and Ashes Nothings Creatures that by our Sins are worse than nothing have the favour and freedom to speak before him and to him These Considerations are good inward means to raise our Hearts and Affections into a warmth when we lift up our voice in Prayer To which I shall add 3. but one direction more touching outward help and it is in all your Devotions to use some wholesome and affecting Forms of Prayer Whatever hath been objected against them they are all Pious and Unprejudiced Spirits of great advantage For thereby the Soul is rid of a great variety of thoughts which bring Distractions The Mind is not at a loss for Words nor the Invention to seek for Matter nor is there that fear upon us which otherwise must needs be upon all humble men of speaking irreverently or unbecomingly to God Every thing else being prepared we have no more to do but to prepare our Hearts and stir our Affections The Wood and the Sacrifice being ready at hand our only business is to bring Fire to the Altar and to keep it burning And here let me recommend unto your special use those Forms of Prayer which our Church useth in her Publick Liturgy Forms that carry with them the true Spirit of Primitive Christianity and are agreeable to those
which were used in the Primitive Ages and some of them the very same Forms that were throughly digested and put together by the great Men at the time of Reformation Great for their Learning Great for their Wisdom Great for their eminent Zeal and Piety and Love of Truth and the Greater still because afterwards they suffered for this Work by the hands and fury of the Romanists and some of them settled it at the stake with their last Blood In Composing that Book they did not consider how they might gratifie particular Fancies but how they might answer the necessities and provide for the real good of the whole Church And accordingly such Prayers were after much deliberation pitched upon as were most Profitable most significant and most moving And 't is observable of them that as they are generally short and therefore easie to be Learned and Remembred so they are very full too and so comprehensive for matter and signification that there is nothing needful for Soul or Body but what there are Petitions for and those too rellishing of such a Spirit of Piety as is enough to affect and move the dullest Hearts if our Minds do but go along with them and without that all the Prayers in the World will not work upon us VII In all our Prayers we must be sure to be Charitable When our Saviour gave his Church a Prayer of his own Composing he directed us to pray in the Plural number even at our private Devotion When thou Prayest enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy Father which is in secret And after this manner pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread Forgive us our trespasses And lead us not into temptation Matth. 6. 6 9 11 12 13. Next to our serving God all our business in this World is to do our selves and others all the good we can and because the condition of our nature is so scanty and weak that it is not in our power to do all that is needful with our own hands therefore we must apply our selves to him from whom every good and perfect gift cometh that he may supply all Mens wants out of his own infinite and inexhaustible treasures Every one therefore must have a share in our Prayers because every one of us is in some want or other I exhort therefore that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men saith St. Paul in 1 Tim. 2. 1. For Kings and for all that are in Authority for one another saith St. James Jam. 5. 16. For them that despitefully use you and persecute you saith our Blessed Saviour himself Matth. 5. 44. Indeed this last direction about praying for ones Enemies is commonly look'd upon as a hard saying but the only reason is because there is so much ill nature in the World The Lord Jesus and his first Martyr St. Stephen did both go out of the World praying for their barbarous and blood-thirsty Enemies the very worst of Men. And that our Prayers may be as theirs were Holy and Efficacious they must proceed from sedate Minds from Hearts full of Gentleness Goodness and Compassion There are two things especially which infect all Prayer and turn it into Abomination The first is unreasonable Anger when Mens Passions are suffered either to start without just and sufficient cause ot to rise unto an immoderate Height or to last an undue time Such Heats are sinful and consequently as noisom Fuel in the Heart as the fire and brimstone of Hell Therefore St. Paul requires us to lift up holy hands without wrath 1 Tim. 2. 9. And this is one reason of that other command Ephes 4. 26. Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath because the Evening was wont to be a constant time for solemn Devotion Anger at best is a weak Passion in us an Argument of great infirmity in our Nature that shews how near of kin we are to the Beasts that perish Therefore amidst all Resentments we should govern our selves by God's Example whose Wrath moves with a very slow pace and endureth but the twinkling of an Eye Psal 30. 5. But when we approach to God we must be sure to keep out the Brutal part from mingling with our Devotion to bring our Minds to a right Christian temper and to speak unto the Author of Love and Peace without Coals in our Bosom and without any Warmth but that of Zeal and Charity 2. The other thing which corrupts all Prayer is Malice when that which ought to be a transient Passion settleth and fixeth into a wicked Habit so that the Mind becomes Implacable Irreconcilable and Revengeful This is utterly inconsistent with the Spirit of Christ's Religion which commands us to forgive a Brother that sinneth even till seventy times seven Math. 18. 22. That is as often as he sinneth and repents of it All that God himself requires at our hands is Prayer and Repentance And if this be the price of his favour surely we sinful wretched Men should think it enough to purchase each others Charity What Man is he that liveth and sinneth not And how can any of us expect Mercy if we shew none How can we hope with our crys and importunities to move the Bowels of God as long as we have no Bowels our selves Or which is the same thing none but what we shut up from our fellow Creatures It is a peremptory Sentence Matth. 6. 15. If ye forgive not Men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses It is observable that our Saviour took hold of frequent occasions to inculcate the necessity of mutual Charity and Mercifulness as one great Characteristical note of a Christian indeed And that we might continually remember it and be afraid to neglect it He inserted it into that Prayer which we are to use as daily as we need our Bread Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And with what confidence can an uncompassionate and uncharitable Man look up to the Father of Mercies with that or any other Prayer in his Mouth What is this but to bring a Curse upon himself instead of a Blessing What is this but a ready way to have all his Prayers flung back upon his face with Indignation and Scorn since it is the rule of God's proceedings that he shall have judgment without mercy who hath shewed no mercy Jam. 2. 13. VIII To all these necessary Qualifications of Prayer I must add in the last place that we must Pray with Reverence For though this be the least considerable thing because it is an external bodily gesture which bears no proportion to the necessary dispositions of the Soul yet it is of such moment that if we pray not in an humble manner it looks as if we did not consider or know what a weighty business we are about A cover'd Head a heavy Eye a stiff Neck
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